Al-Shaibani Thanks Jordan for Its Role in Ending Syria’s Non-Compliance Case Before the IAEA
Al-Taj News –
Syrian Foreign Minister and Expatriates Asaad Al-Shaibani said that the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) closed the non-compliance item on September 9, by consensus, and removed it from its agenda, bringing an end to an era that lasted 15 years.
Speaking during his participation in the IAEA General Conference on Monday, Al-Shaibani said the step “begins a new chapter that closes the page of doubt and opens the door to certainty and cooperation.”
Al-Shaibani thanked Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia for sponsoring and submitting the draft resolution, along with the countries that supported the process, and also thanked the IAEA Secretariat.
Al-Shaibani said Damascus, based on its belief in transparency and constructive cooperation, took the initiative through an independent sovereign decision, explaining that on July 17, it sent an official letter to the agency disclosing the presence of nuclear materials at an undeclared site.
He added that a memorandum of understanding accompanied by a clear roadmap for peaceful uses was signed on July 29.
Al-Shaibani noted that Syria opened the Deir ez-Zor site, making the IAEA Director General the first person to enter the site on August 16, after nearly two decades of closure, pointing out that work had begun alongside agency experts to remove the reactor remains from beneath layers of reinforced concrete.
He said Damascus took the initiative to provide all design information and nuclear material inventory reports that the Board of Governors had been requesting since 2011.
He added that 73 tons of natural uranium are now under the supervision and safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, stressing that they “will remain safe in Syria.”
Al-Shaibani affirmed that “the new Syria that is addressing this heavy legacy is fundamentally different from those who caused it,” adding that for Damascus, transparency is “a firmly established sovereign approach and a permanent strategic decision through which we move beyond the language of circumstantial positions and fleeting maneuvers.”
